Thursday, September 20, 2012

I Love To Be Queer

Here's a queer anthem, literally, that I have been nuts about since I first heard it in 2000, but over the years I've found very few people know about it. The duo Sponge Finger is comprised of Clayton Littlewood and Rob Brown, and their 12" release of four mixes of "I Love To Be Queer" came out of the UK, with a quite Pet Shop Boys feel to it, in 1995.

I first found this and a handful of other tracks by them on the once-wonderful website mp3.com, in 2000, only the act was billed as Rent. I searched at the time on the net but could really find nothing about them, and then mp3.com changed and all the good stuff was gone. Fast forward ten years and I saw a listing for "I Love To Be Queer," but by Sponge Finger, so on impulse ordered it...and found it identical to the Rent recording. From that I easily tracked them down, and learned that Rob, trying to get some more life out of the tracks, had uploaded them to mp3.com under the Rent name, getting the idea from the PSB song, and also having fun with "rent" being slang for a male hooker.

Below, Clayton Littlewood and Rob Brown

The guys have not been active much musically in recent years, but just lately have been working on a new album, perhaps for next year, and some of the likely tracks can be heard on YouTube.

I also recommend Clayton's website, as he's become an acclaimed author. I've read his first book, "Dirty White Boy - Tales of Soho," and thought it delightful. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, "Goodbye to Soho."